Cat Telecom Wireless

[8i8]

hi experts...

so a guy comes to my house today (koh phangan) carrying in his hand what looks like your normal house phone, but actually works like a mobile phone. he's selling a new promotion by cat telecom for wireless broadband internet. i'm not even sure what this unit is called... it was all a bit surreal - having a dialing tone on this completely wireless unit...

the cat telecom site is down at the moment, ominously.

the initial price is 7,000b, and then 590 baht/month unlimited, 256kb/s internet and free calls within thailand, first 4 months free...

does anyone have any experience with this "thing'?

(at the moment you can only get a dial up connection in this part of the world....)

thanx,

d

[Phil Conners]

I'd be sure I saw an extremely credible ID card before flexing over any money

[sbk]

Its probably the same promotion discussed in the Samui forum about the CAT air card.

[sbk]

I'd be sure I saw an extremely credible ID card before flexing over any money

If its the same guy, he came to my house too. I've known him for 17 years and would trust him with the money. Just wouldn't trust CAT with their promises for a fast connection. And the first 4 months are 590 baht, not free according to the paper I got. I wonder what it costs after that?

[8i8]

THANX!!!!

[trd]

What you are referring to is a broadband wireless system operated by CAT Telecom called CDMA EVDO. It was recently launched in Phuket with plans to launch in another 51 provinces later this year. I just bought, about a month ago, a Sierra Aircard from CAT which plugs into the PC card slot on my laptop and which connects wirelessly to the nearest cellular antenna. It cost 15,900 baht with no monthly charges to pay for 4 months (as part of a promotion) and then 590 baht per month thereafter with no data limits.

It's the best experience I've had with broadband in Thailand. I had ADSL from TT&T before that. It is not GPRS. That's unbearably slow. Dialup speeds will give you about 45kbs and GPRS can go lower than that. CDMA is much faster and has been used in the USA and other countries such as Korea and Japan for some time now. From tests I've done using speakeasy.net I am consistently getting download speeds of 500-600 kbs. Unfortunately the upload speeds are only around 45-60 kbs. Not too bothered about that but if you are a Skype user you need at least 100kbs to avoid break up on voice. The whole of Phuket is covered. There are about 35 base stations on the island. Didn't know they were launching in Samui though.

Yes they also offer a boring looking grey phone with a big antenna stuck on it. Great if you can't get a phone line, but although you can also use it as a modem, the speed is limited to 156kbs, so for high speed internet speed you need the Sierra Aircard.